BHP is moving ahead with the closure of Mt Arthur Coal near Muswellbrook with the demolition on a disused coal handling and preparation plant.
The mine is due to close in 2030 and BHP is presently engaging with the community about the 7000 hectare site's future.
Options include adventure parks, hiking, and mountain bike trails, renewable energy projects such as solar and pumped hydro, manufacturing and biodiversity projects.
The company has previously stated that it hopes that many of the facilities can be put to alternative uses rather than be destroyed.
Among the items not considered worth preserving was the 1970s era Bayswater Coal Handling and Preparation Plant. Delta Group was engaged to demolish the facility that took ten months to complete.
BHP Vice President NSW Energy Coal, Liz Watts, who manages the mine, told a parliamentary inquiry into post-mining land uses in August that it made no sense to demolish valuable infrastructure in order to conform to a prescribed standard of ecological rehabilitation.
"This is why we are adamant there is a better way forward than the current requirements for closure," she said.
"As the committee would know, under current requirements, BHP is required in closure to deliver a return to agricultural pasture and woodland - an outcome that requires the demolition and removal of all high-quality existing infrastructure, including high-quality office and administrative facilities, industrial workshops, high-capacity electrical infrastructure, maintenance facilities, and rail lines."
The inquiry is examining new and innovative approaches to post-mining land use in preparation for a slew of mine closures over the next decade.
It is also aiming to ensure former mine sites can continue to bring economic investment and opportunities to regional communities after mining ends.
In its submission to the inquiry, BHP argued that a balanced approach to reusing the land and existing infrastructure should be taken.
Ms Watts said this would achieve not only the highest highest possible environmental outcomes, but it would also deliver the long-term social and economic benefits for the community.
"I'm confident that through the capabilities of our communities and the work of this committee, we can deliver a model for post-mining use which delivers a lasting and positive legacy for the Hunter, for NSW and for mining communities right around Australia," she said.
Former Hunter mine sites possess economic potential capable of supporting communities for generations to come, a world-leading mining environmental specialist believes.
World-leading mining environmental specialist Pete Whitbread-Abrutat, who recently visited Mt Arthur, said the site presented significant social and economic opportunities.
"When these mines were set up several decades ago there was a very different environmental and socioeconomic landscape than exists today," he said.
"You can close the mine and walk away and leave a nice ecological landscape, but in a place like the Hunter Valley, you've got other land uses that have impacted the environment like farms, horse breeding and the military. So it's not a pristine environment anyway," he said.
"That's not to say we shouldn't rehabilitate but you need to recognise that the people in those communities need some kind of decent livelihood to replace mining jobs."
